Saturday, November 27, 2010

WOW, its been awhile and so much has happened! We went for a same day trip to Elyria to see the old folks. Mike and I had been waiting for us both to have 2 free days off in a row. When that did'nt happen for 7 MONTHS we decided the hell with it and left Saturday morning and came back Saturday night. This was the weekend before thanksgiving so luckily the traffic was on our side. We had a good visit, although Donovan started to break out in hives while at my Mom's house. I have a feeling it was less about the cat and more about the Glade airfreshener my sister was spraying around. We also got to see the Aunts. Photos below:

Then, of course, was thanksgiving. We spent that here with Mike's family. Aunt Claire and Aunt Heather made the trip from NYC and Donovan picked right up where he left off with them. After 10 minutes of fussing, that is. Sadly, no photos from that visit. We were all too fixated on the turkey.

Today is day #3 in the 4 day weekend. Mike has to work so its just Donny and me. So far today we have made the first paperchain of the season (Donny stopped it short. He doesnt understand his mother's obsession with making the Longest Paperchain In The World. But it was a good start.) We also had Baby's First Jiffy Pop, which I found at the Shur Save in Bloomfield. Shur Save is odd, first of all in the fact that you Shur Don't Save. Its not exactly inexpensive, which is strange because its kind of crappy. That being said, they had all sorts of stuff you can't find at Giant Eagle: penny matches, Jiffy Pop Popcorn, Fels Naptha Laundry Soap and Washing Soda. Just to name a few.

Now I'm typing this up while Donovan plays with his gears downstairs. Little does he know that a nap is coming his way. I hope he's enjoying his limited window of independent play...

Saturday, November 13, 2010

So many mornings when I bring Donny to our bed to wake him up, I joke with Mike, "I think we'll just stay here all day. Have fun at work." And usually, once the kid wakes up, he wriggles away from me and runs downstairs to have breakfast with Daddy. Today was my first Saturday in MONTHS when I had nothing planned and the kid could not get enough of me. I was getting climbed on, kissed, hugged, pulled away from the kitchen into the front room to sit on the couch with him, even followed into the bathroom. It was very sweet but even in the middle of that sweetness I was thinking, "Uh oh." No temperature, tho, and he seemed happy. Very odd.

Well, it all made sense when we got alllll the way to Phipps and the kid had a major bout of diarrhea. To the point where I thought, "Its warm. He can walk home in his underwear." And, "Maybe they sell kids pants in the giftshop--I mean, I know they sell tshirts..." I cleaned the poor kid up and did something I never do unless its desperate: I called Mike at work. He got the go-ahead to leave work, take us home, and got back to finish up. Perfect except the brakes went out on his car. On Negley Hill. Luckily he was able to put it in park and use the emergency break to avoid killing himself or anyone else. This being Pittsburgh, the guy who stopped to help him turned out to be friends with one of Mike's friends from a different band and he offered to drive to Phipps, get Donny and I, and then drive all of us home to Polish Hill. Mike had to go to the Pharaoh Sanders show for work and he ended up throwing himself upon the mercy of the busway to get downtown. Lord help us all.

Oddly, this is also the night I tried to teach Donovan how to pray. I ordered a couple books of prayers and blessings for children for him from the UU suggested reading list. The one I like the most, "A Prayer for a Child" has one lone Jesus reference thrown in at the end but the pictures are so good and its a simple exercise in being thankful. So tonight he blessed alot of people after he crawled into bed but before he laid down. I'm hoping the prayer thing will help him be a little less feral. Not so much feral in the ripping squirrels apart with his teeth sense, but less feral in that he can use other parts of his brain, so he can access thankfulness and empathy. I know its in there but its not very spontaneous.

And in case the whole praying thing freaks you out, you might like to know that Donny and I spent about an hour in the front room listening to my classic rock mix and spaz dancing. He really got into "Under Over Sideways Down" and Zeppelin's version of "Walking the Floor." He was'nt too sure about Mott the Hoople but he really liked saying "All The Way to Memphis."